Locked Out

A student teaches a longtime swim coach a lesson in patience.

THE LESSONS

Never underestimate how important it is to get your students over
this hurdle. They can’t learn anything until they are
comfortable in the water.

2. Be a lifelong student.

Even if you’ve been teaching swim lessons your whole life,
chances are, there’s still something your students have to
teach you. Being teachable helps you and your students.

3. Get students into the water as young as possible.

The younger they start, the better chance you have of making them comfortable in the water — and lifelong swimmers.

I have been teaching swimming for more than 30 years. I thought I had this swim lesson thing down until a 4-year-old made me realize I still have much to learn.

I believe in getting into the child’s world. I have games
and gimmicks to accomplish this. A favorite of mine is the car
wash. I put the student on a noodle, give the child a ring for a
steering wheel and put them through the “car wash.”
Usually, I get laughter and excitement from the child.

Another technique I use is making sure the student is balanced
in the water. This is accomplished through relaxing the youngster
(such as using the car wash technique) or playing other games. I
want the student to be able to glide through the water with
straight hands and straight legs. I really want to have the student
“trust” the water. Once we get that trust, we can go on
with all sorts of skills.

But on this particular day, my technique did not work. Like many
students who have never been in a pool, she was scared stiff and
uncomfortable. She also was put in the water with a stranger
(me).

I’ve seen many children in this same situation in my
career. I really try to educate parents to put their children in
the water at a very young age, preferably 3 months old. It’s
a lot easier to teach an infant than to teach a 4-year-old who has
already developed a fear of water.

So we were in the pool for the first time and I was ready to
accept the challenge. I always start the lesson off trying to find
a way to relate to the student. I look for something on the
child’s swimsuit. Maybe it is an animal or a cartoon figure.
Perhaps I can find a way to make the child laugh at something I can
do. It didn’t seem to work this time. I tried everything and
still she wouldn’t budge from the pool steps.

Finally, I just told myself that I would have her do a head-up
glide. I took her off the steps approximately 5 feet, then turned
her around and glided her back to the steps. All of this was done
with her head up. She then proceeded to very calmly climb out of
the pool, grab her mother’s car keys and lock herself in the
car. I could not believe it!

We couldn’t convince the girl to come out of the car until
finally, after some time and a lot of coercing, we talked her into
opening the door. The swim lesson was over for that day, and the
mother drove the student home.

I don’t know what was said or done prior to the next swim
lesson, but it was much more successful. The girl ended up being a
very good swimmer. It was an experience I will never forget!

I love challenges. I love to teach the student who has a lot of
fear. Once you gain that trust and also have them trust the water,
you can teach your student anything.